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Most popular compact pickup packs most power in class.
Editor: Bob Plunkett
$12,270 Base Price MSRP
$23,600 As Tested MSRP
Model Lineup: XL ($12,270); XLT ($14,405); Edge ($14,855)
Standard Engine: 4.0-liter sohc 12-valve V6
Engine Options: 135-hp 2.3-liter dohc 16-valve inline 4; 154-hp 3.0-liter ohv 12-valve V6; 207-hp 4.0-liter sohc 12-valve V6
Standard Transmission: 5-speed automatic
Transmission Options: 5-speed manual; 5-speed automatic
Basic Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles
Assembled In: Twin Cities, Minnesota; Edison, New Jersey
Model Tested MSRP: Edge SuperCab 4x4 ($21,020)
Standard Equipment: power dome hood design, monochromatic color scheme, power disc/drum brakes with EBD and ABS, power steering, dual front airbags, 4.0-liter V6 engine, 5-speed manual transmission, air conditioning, AM/FM/6-disc in-dash CD, cloth and vinyl 60/40 split bench seat with fold-down armrest/console, auxiliary rear doors, textured rubber floor, analog instruments with tachometer, two 12-volt power points, sliding rear window, Styleside 6-ft. box, cargo bed rails, four cargo tie-down hooks, mud flaps, rear step bumper, front tow hooks, fog lamps, 16-inch aluminum wheels, P245/75/R16 tires
Options As Tested: 5-speed automatic transmission ($1000); limited-slip rear axle ($295); SuperCab with vinyl rear jump seats, Power Equipment Group ($405) includes power windows, locks, mirrors, remote keyless entry; step bar ($295)
Standard Safety Equipment: dual front airbags, three-point seatbelts with force-limiting pretensioners, child restraint seat anchor brackets, anti-lock brakes (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) standardDestination Charge: $585
Last year, fresh styling, new engines and redesigned components made the Ranger stronger, more practical, more convenient and more comfortable than ever. Those strengths have all been carried over to a largely unchanged 2002 model.
Ranger comes in two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive models, spread through three trim designations, three cab configurations, and three wheelbase lengths, with six- and seven-foot beds, and flat Styleside or notched Flareside fender shapes.
Three engines are available, two V6 engines and a four-cylinder. The 2.3-liter four-cylinder with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder is rated at 135 horsepower and 153 foot-pounds of torque. The 3.0-liter V6 is rated at 154 horsepower and 180 pounds-feet of torque. The 4.0-liter V6 develops 207 horsepower and 238 foot-pounds of torque.
Five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmissions are offered with all three engines.
The price-leading base edition is the XL Regular Cab Styleside ($12,270) with the 2.3-liter engine, manual transmission, and two-wheel-drive. Add an extended SuperCab, four-wheel drive, and a 4.0-liter V6, and the price climbs to $21,250. Opt for a SuperCab Flareside XLT with 4WD, and the tab rises to $22,645.
Options include a new five-speed automatic transmission, a limited-slip rear differential, power windows and auxiliary rear doors for the SuperCab, all of which can load the bottom line by as much as $3,000.
Special models supply a surplus of attitude. The Edge sports monochromatic color schemes that include a vivid Chrome Yellow. Edge comes in 4x2 and 4x4, but either way it rides at 4x4 height. Tow hooks, fog lights, and a 60-watt stereo with CD player all contribute to its attitude. Edge prices start at $17,295 with a 3.0-liter V6, but can climb as high as $23,905 with a 4.0-liter, 4WD, and four-door SuperCab.
New for 2002 is an off-road package called the FX4 ($24,830). Based on a four-door SuperCab XLT, FX4 comes with 4WD, 4.0-liter V6, a 4.10 rear end, skid plates, tow hooks, Bilstein shocks, and other serious off-road equipment; interior trim includes a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cruise control, and a host of power luxuries and conveniences.
Walk Around
Redesigned for 2001, the Ranger sports revamped front styling, a bulging hood and aggressive fender flares. The designers borrowed elements from the larger F-150 trucks and used them to strengthen the Ranger's visual cues and streamline the package.
The Styleside design sweeps a continuous line from tip to tail, but the Flareside version carves a recessed step into each side panel immediately behind the cab. The notch accentuates a rounded rear fender. Indentations in the bed support partitions to segment cargo.
The Edge focuses on a monochromatic treatment, with a power-dome hood bump that hints at a powerhouse beneath. Edge also features protective bed rails and four tie-down hooks. An optional bed extender flips out and rests on the tailgate, like a U-shaped cage of tubular stainless steel. It won't keep much dirt in, but it will sure stop your kayak from sliding out. An optional ($895) hard tonneau lid unfolds in separate front and rear sections, divided by a central vertical partition, with a lock added on the forward bin for security.
The Ranger's cab was revised for 2001. The most noteworthy improvement is a newfound quietness. Previous Rangers consistently set the standard among compact trucks for spacious, comfortable accommodations and convenient features. The latest models build on that foundation with new seat designs clad in new fabrics, a revised instrument panel with tachometer supplied at all trim levels, and a revamped center pod for climate and audio systems with large easy-to-use rotary dials.
The Regular Cab carries a bench seat that can squeeze three aboard. The SuperCab offers an interior storage bay behind the front seat, with a 6-foot (71.8 inch) bed behind that. Two small side-facing jump seats may be added to the cab's rear bay; each folds down from the back wall. Two optional rear-hinged doors allow easy access to the SuperCab's rear quarters.
The Edge adds a textured rubber floor cover for wash-and-wear convenience. The bench splits 60/40, with side bolsters for outboard positions and a center armrest that folds down and contains a pop-top storage bin. Seats in our SuperCab Edge had cloth center sections surrounded by satin vinyl on the bolsters, and they felt luxurious. Deluxe interior components also come with the Edge, including air conditioning and an audio kit with in-dash six-CD swticher. Our SuperCab Edge test vehicle also featured the optional Power Equipment Group ($405), with electric assists for windows, locks and mirrors, plus remote keyless entry.
Driving Impressions
Topping Ranger's power chart is a 4.0-liter single-cam V6 built by Ford in Germany. With this engine, the Ranger leaps off the line and runs quickly to speed. More important it provides strong low-rpm torque for off-road work in four-wheel-drive or pulling trailers or heavy loads.
The V6 teams with either a heavy-duty five-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed automatic with adaptive shift logic. Rather than a taller overdrive, the five-way autobox adds a gear between what would be first and second in a four-speed automatic. This produces closer ratios for better throttle response when accelerating, towing a trailer or driving off road. A high-gear lockout switch on the tip of the shift lever enables the driver to kick down a gear with the tap of a finger.
A Ranger SuperCab 4x4 with the 4.0-liter V6 and optional five-speed automatic delivered good performance for passing, even at altitude. It could scamper up mountain grades or effortlessly pass a line of heavy freight haulers.
The Ranger handled bumps and curves with confident dexterity. Its rigid ladder-like chassis, fully boxed in the front section, combines with an independent wishbone front suspension to produce smooth ride sensations.
At the same time, the Ranger offers aggressive performance off the pavement, as we saw on a primitive track laced with lumps and rocks and tire-sucking mud pits. A high ground clearance enables the Ranger 4x4 to clear ruts and bumps easily. And when it doesn't, skid plates shield the transfer case and fuel tank from damage.
A pulse-vacuum hub-lock device engages the front hubs quickly, for push-button shifting into four-wheel-drive, while rolling as fast as 80 mph. A rotary dial on the dashboard provides seamless switching from rear-wheel-drive to four-wheel-drive high, or further down to four-wheel low for serious off-road maneuvers.
For a growing number of individuals, even young families, a compact pickup is a sensible choice. Base prices compare favorably with those of entry-level sedans, and many folks feel that a truck has more personality. Virtually any power or luxury item you might order for a compact sedan is offered on a truck as well. A truck can be a versatile weekend workhorse and, especially when equipped with an extended cab and auxiliary rear doors, a competent family car the other five days out of the week.
Ford Ranger remains a popular choice. One in three compact pickups sold last year was a Ranger. More than 5 million Rangers have been built since the first one rolled out in 1982.
Fresh exterior styling and innovative add-ons (like a cargo bed extender and the two-flap lockable tonneau lid) make America's best-selling compact truck even more attractive and appealing. In performance, the 207-horsepower V6 propels Ranger to the head of its class.
The Edge adds attitude with a monochromatic exterior and an easy-to-clean interior.
Top Cars


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Pamela Bacon, Ph.D.
Professor, Department Chair (2014 - 2017), Sabbatical Spring 2017
Phone: 320-363-5167
Email: [email protected]
Office: CSB Main 366
Education: B.A., Carleton College, 1993; M.S., Iowa State University, 1996; Ph.D., Iowa State University, 2001
Areas of Interest: Social Psychology
Areas of Research: Focuses on the relational self-construal (the degree to which individuals incorporate important relationships into the self-concept) and its effect on behavior, emotion, and cognition. Especially interested in how the organization of the self-concept impacts interactions with close others and strangers.
Courses Taught: Social Psychology, Research Methods, Introduction to Psychology and Positive Psychology

subset: commoncrawl


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Martijinken Meere (d. 1573)
Martijnken (Martijntgen) Meere, an Anabaptist martyr, was burnt at the stake on 19 August 1573 at the Vrijdagsmarkt at Ghent, Belgium, with two other women. Martijnken, the sister of the martyr Calleken Meere, was a native of Wyncle in Flanders and unmarried. These three women were gagged to prevent them from speaking to the crowd gathered around the execution place. This fact or something else displeased the bystanders, and they nearly created a riot. Soldiers then began to clear the market place.
Verheyden, A. L. E. Het Gentsche Martyrologium (1530-1595). Brugge: De Tempel, 1946: 64 f., No. 229.
|Nanne van der Zijpp
|Date Published
Cite This Article
MLA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Martijinken Meere (d. 1573)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1957. Web. 19 Sep 2020. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Martijinken_Meere_(d._1573)&oldid=161391.
APA style
Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1957). Martijinken Meere (d. 1573). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 September 2020, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Martijinken_Meere_(d._1573)&oldid=161391.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 514. All rights reserved.
©1996-2020 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.


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Jon Dawson critiques Charles Bradley's Victim of Love and Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother
New album: Victim of Love
Artist: Charles Bradley
Label: Daptone/Dunham
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Anyone who thought authentic R&B/soul singers died out with James Brown and Wilson Pickett should rejoice over the emergence of current Soul Man No. 1, Charles Bradley.
Bradley was discovered by Gabriel Roth � the same man who shined a light on modern-day R&B/soul queen Sharon Jones. Having worked hard all his life and not catching a break, the success of Bradley�s 2011 debut album �No Time for Dreaming� at the age of 62 was incredibly sweet. A film documenting his life and first album release called �Soul of Amercia� was released to wide acclaim in 2012.
Bradley wrote the songs on his debut album and �Victim of Love� with guitarist Thomas Bennick � a pair with more disparate backgrounds there couldn�t be. For whatever reason, this seasoned vet and young upstart have forged an incredible songwriting alliance that stands toe to toe with the great southern soul songs churned out by Stax Records in their heyday.
�No Time for Dreaming� was an album about struggle and perseverance; �Victim of Love� is about the reward.
Backed by Dapton label mates Menahen Street Band*, the noir-ish soul/funk/R&B stew that is the hallmark of most Daptone productions is in full force on �Victim of Love.� Not since Booker T & The MGs backed Otis Redding has an established band melded so perfectly with a singer�s timbre and passion.
Funky drumming, James Brown-inspired rhythm guitar and thick, mobile bass blend with vibraphone and Hammond organ to give Bradley�s sharp rasp a counterpoint cushion of finesse.
�Hurricane� sounds like a great lost masterpiece by The Meters, while �Confusion� is filtered through a thick dub haze reminiscent of The Chambers Brothers and Sly Stone.
The one thing about �Victim of Love� that�s wholly original is Bradley�s soaring vocals. He may have grown up idolizing James Brown, but he�s carved out his own space in the pantheon of all-time great vocalists.
Anything with Charles Bradley�s name on it is highly recommended.
*The latest Menahan Street Band album was reviewed in the Free Press on Nov. 7, 2012.
Classic album: Atom Heart Mother
Artist: Pink Floyd
Label: EMI
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
When Pink Floyd released �Atom Heart Mother� in 1970, they were clamoring for a direction. Their original leader Syd Barrett had taken a trip out to where the buses don�t run and decided to stay. His replacement � guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour � was steering the band away from rampant experimentation and towards something almost musical.
That�s not to say �Atom Heart Mother� wasn't a bit out there; with Pink Floyd, you want it to be a little bit out there. The first side of the album was a 24-minute piece based initially around a theme composed by Gilmour.
With orchestration added by Scottish musician/nutter Ron Geesion, side one has it moments but seems a bit cluttered. Live recordings from the era suggest the piece worked better when the Floyd played it as a four-piece with no augmentation.
Side two is comprised of a song each from Gilmour, bassist/vocalist Roger Waters and keyboardist/vocalist Richard Wright. Waters� �If� was one of his first steps toward personal subject matter in his lyrics and, like most of Waters� best work, features a simple musical backing.
Gilmour�s �Fat Old Sun� touches on childhood themes and longing that would re-emerge 24 years later on the final Pink Floyd song �High Hopes.� Much like side one of the LP, �Fat Old Sun� fared much better in a live setting.
The rest of side two is filled out with Wright�s catchy �Summer �68,� which still had some psychedelic residue from the Barrett-era at its edges. The 13-minute album closer, �Alan�s Psychedelic Breakfast,� starts off as an audio documentary of how most people start the day, from answering the call of nature to teeth brushing and breakfast.
Eventually, the Floyd meander into the proceedings with a decent jam that improves on the orchestral crowding of side one.
�Atom Heart Mother� isn�t the greatest album Pink Floyd ever made, but it should be interesting to those who only know the band for the six or seven songs classic rock radio plays on a continuous loop.
Jon Dawson�s album reviews appear every Thursday in the Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or email@example.com. Purchase Jon�s book �Making Gravy in Public� at jondawson.com.


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Blog Archives
What is Prosperity?
Is Prosperity all about the money and the bling?
Do an abundance of love, laughter, and simple joys comprise Prosperity?
What is Prosperity?
How can we recognise Prosperity and invite more of it into our lives?
Tam and Dr Chan talk about Prosperity on the path to growing consciousness.
Listen now at:
Prosperity 08/14 by Growing Consciousness | Spirituality Podcasts.


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What follows is a tragic tale of hubris brought low, of pride diminished, and of ego (hopefully) deflated.
What do you know of Islam? Have you ever read the Qur'an? Do you know how the sura, the chapters, are laid out and organized within the book? If you do, kudos. If you don't, you're not alone. Even a self-proclaimed expert on Islam has recently been found to have no idea what is in the Qur'an, or even simply how it is laid out, chapter by chapter. More on that later.
Of my own accord, I have only been a part-time student of Islamic ideology and the concept of global jihad since the summer of 2006, about the time the Israeli/Lebanon war began. Among other bastions of information, including Chronicles magazine contributor, Serge Trifkovic, I have found Robert Spencer's Jihadwatch.org an excellent resource on Islamic jihadism and the resulting destruction of the west and western values as a result of muslim extremism. Mr. Spencer, in my view, is one of the leading experts in this area who possesses one of the few voices of reason in a wilderness of Islamic apologists, capitulators, dissemblers, and seditionists who work to deflect any concept of Islamic imperfection and attack by those who simply wish to solicit much needed discussion on the topic of Islam and the Qur'an and the place of both in modern, civilized societies.
Spencer rightly points to that holy muslim book, the Qur'an, as the basis for the perceived justification of violent jihad that we see in the world today, as it was the basis for the comparable violent jihad of centuries past. In the eyes of muslims the world over, the Qur'anic prophet Muhammad is the embodiment of the perfect man–the man all the faithful should endeavor to emulate (despite his modern moral failings.)
Reading the Qur'an reveals pretty much everything one needs to know concerning muslim (particularly the extremists) traditions and actions and the subsequent violence preached there in, assuming you can understand it (the hadith, or traditions of the prophet Muhammad, is another source.) Muslim belief is predicated on the conceit that Islam is the one true religion and all other religions are not only false, but in need of eradication entirely through voluntary or forced conversion to Islam, relegation to demeaning Dhimmi status, or killed. Regardless, everyone will exist under the oppressive theocratic umbrella of the Sharia–Islamic law.
So that's the most basic of what I have learned, which is meticulously, sensibly and, logically backed up by qualified voices like Robert Spencer and Serge Trifkovic.
Adversely, there are many vocal charlatans who claim Islamic scholarship–who even excel in deceiving adherents into blindly accepting whatever they happen to spew forth at any given time simply because they're proficient in beguilement (and honestly, most are receptive mainly due to their lemming-like need to follow someone or something.) Such is the likes of best-selling author, Dinesh D'Souza.
D'Souza's latest book, The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 is an exercise in inconsistency, and claims pretty much as the title reads–Hillary Clinton, Noam Chomsky, Justin Timberlake, and basically everyone liberal and everything decadently Hollywood, bears responsibility for the rise in modern jihad and the pushing of moderate muslims into the arms of extremists. Needless to say, many on the left and the right of the political debate find D'Souza's claims and conclusions presented in his new book anything if not laughable.
Many have been extremely vocal in their disagreement with D'Souza and the concepts presented in The Enemy At Home, (with an exceptionally hilarious appearance on The Colbert Report where the obtuse D'Souza sat firmly in the butt-of-the-joke chair, unbeknownst to him) including Robert Spencer and Serge Trifkovic. After Spencer rightly denounced the book here, D'Souza's response was rather defensive with a marginal amount of childish pedantry and a good deal of red herring thrown in for good measure. In fact, it seems that anytime D'Souza argues for a position, he often becomes entangled within a web of logical fallacies of his own making–straw men and ad hominem being two of his favorite squabbling tactics.
Never one to shy from debate, Spencer (who regularly encourages those who disagree with his assessment of Islam engage with him in polemic discussion on the subject) agreed to sit on a panel during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week with D'Souza as his opponent.
D'Souza excels at obfuscation and diversion (again, he employs many logical fallacies including those mentioned above.) He repeatedly ignores cognizant and commonsense statements made by Spencer while he recklessly sallies forth in defense of his stance to the point where he completely digresses from claims made in his book if only to appear the conquering hero to the collected audience, and be damned The Enemy at Home.
Regardless of that outcome, D'Souza felt the continued need to beat his chest and express his supposed superior position by treading the same ground that had been covered in the CPAC debate the day previous, despite the fact that Spencer adequately addressed every issue raised by D'Souza.
From D'Souza…
Letting Bin Laden Define Islam
Posted Mar 2nd 2007 1:35AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Middle East, Politics, Religion
Yesterday I debated Robert Spencer at the Conservative Political Action Committee annual conference in Washington D.C. The debate was aired live on C-Span. Our topic was essentially, Is Islam the Problem? My book The Enemy at Home says no, locating the problem in the way that liberal foreign policy and liberal values projected abroad have strengthened radical Islam and emboldened it to attack us. Spencer's books collectively answer yes, the problem is with Islam itself.
But Islam has been around for 1300 years and the problem of Islamic terrorism is a recent one. How can Islam be to blame? For me the intelligent question is: what is it about Islam today that has made it an incubator of a certain kind of fanaticism and terrorism?
What more can Robert Spencer do but respond once more to points that D'Souza either ignored originally, or misunderstood completely?
From Spencer…
D'Souza: Spencer "essentially agrees with Bin Laden"
Dinesh D'Souza has blogged here, in "Letting Bin Laden Define Islam," about our debate yesterday. I am still at CPAC and don't have much time to give a full answer, but since he repeats some familiar canards about me and my books, which I still think he shows no signs of having read despite his claims to the contrary, I thought I'd post some preliminary thoughts. For one thing, it is worth noting that he made exactly these points in the debate yesterday, and I answered them, but he takes no account here of the answers. Instead, he just continues to make the charges, as if I have said nothing in response at all. Personally, I don't think this kind of thing is a very fruitful avenue for dialogue.
This is getting almost as good as ringside seats at the battle of Badr. To me, and I would hope to any who have read to this point, Spencer has done nothing but logically and reasonably state his position without resorting to character attacks, fallacious analysis, or hasty generalizations as D'Souza frequently seems to do.
A recurrent theme that runs throughout the interactions between Robert Spencer and Dinesh D'Souza, whether in person for face to face debate, or over the internet through written discourse, is the continued question of not all encompassing expertise on the subject of Islam and Islamic ideology, but of something as simple as common courtesy–reading and understanding the works of your opponent. When one claims expertise on a subject, one is expected to have studied a considerable amount of material that not only supports an idea or concept, but one is also expected to have studied the antithesis of that subject in order to formulate strategies of refutation when confronted by the opposition. For example, and to bring myself into this, while I find I stand to the right of the political aisle on many issues, I prefer to get both sides of the story, so to speak. To do so, I personally subscribe to both the liberal publication The Nation and the conservative periodical National Review. I believe it is important for anyone who takes a firm stand on any given issue to do this in order to form a more fully realized concept of a particular subject.
While Mr. Spencer obviously adheres to this approach evidenced by his review of Mr. D'Souza's book, the same, I believe, cannot be claimed by Dinesh. Over and over, Robert Spencer asks D'Souza if he's even read any of his books. Dinesh usually waves Spencer away with a casual affirmative–of course he's read Spencer's books, or so he claims. As one who has read several of Robert Spencer's books, as well as articles from magazines with daily visits to Jihadwatch and Dhimmiwatch, it has become evident to me that D'Souza has not read any books penned by Spencer due to the simple fact that D'Souza seems blithely ignorant of basic Islamic thought, which is the cornerstone of Spencer's writing.
Unfortunately, this had not been proven… UNTIL NOW! (Apologies for the drama.) Enter Serge Trifkovic, author of such notable books as Sword of the Prophet and Defeating Jihad, regular contributing writer to Chronicles magazine, and defiler of connivers and hypocrites. During his debate with D'Souza, something quite interesting, but not surprising was discovered–Dinesh D'Souza, self-proclaimed expert of Islam, knows not even the most general concepts of Islamic ideology, theology, and the Qur'an.
Here is an excerpt from that debate…
TRIFKOVIC: This is really rich. First of all, to claim that the Kuran is a pacifist tract…
D'SOUZA: I didn't say it's a pacifist tract.
TRIFKOVIC: Well, you do say that people like Spencer and I pick and choose. Have you actually read the Kuran? Have you ever actually read the Kuran?
D'SOUZA: Of course I have.
TRIFKOVIC: Do you know how are the Suras arranged?
D'SOUZA: They are… er… they are not arranged in any chronological order… er… [pause] and… er… [pause] and so I quote in my book both the violent and…
TRIFKOVIC: Just tell me how ARE they arranged.
D'SOUZA: The other point…
TRIFKOVIC: Can you just tell me how are the Suras arranged?
D'SOUZA: … right. You can't just call…
TRIFKOVIC: Why don't you just tell me how are the Suras arranged?
HENNEN: OK, one at a time here; your question for Dinesh, Serge, is?
TRIFKOVIC: In what order are the Suras arranged in the Kuran?
D'SOUZA: [long silence] I really don't know what you mean by that. When you say "in what order" then… err… [pause] there…
TRIFKOVIC: … an interlocutor who tries to pass authoritative judgments on the subject is refusing to tell me how are the Suras and the verses of the Kuran arranged. They happen to be arranged by SIZE, from short to long!
Spencer adds…
The interview goes on for another 10 minutes or so. Meanwhile, Serge tells me: "To avoid misunderstanding, let me point out that my 'explanation' to D'Souza about the arrangement of the Suras in the Kuran ('They happen to be arranged by SIZE, from short to long!') was not a slip, it was the final proof-positive of his fraud, as HE DID NOT CORRECT ME but went on babbling…"
Yes, at this point it is quite safe to say Dinesh D'Souza is a fraud. How can we believe his claim to have read the work of Robert Spencer if he hasn't even read the one book he should have read in order to write his best-selling book. Even in my own limited time engaged in the study of Islam, I know the suras are arranged from longest to shortest, and I learned this very early on. Assuming one knows even a quarter as much as myself, this is not something one needs to think long about, nor was Trifkovic's question an attempt at trickery–it was as straight forward as one could make it.
So it is no longer necessary to buy or read The War at Home, even though I would usually encourage everyone to investigate opposing viewpoints to their beliefs. Justifiably, D'Souza has been proven nothing more than the conservative author's version of James Frey.
A final word by Hugh Fitzgerald from Jihadwatch…
Fitzgerald: That Operator Is Standing By
Anyone debating Dinesh D'Souza should be sure to do exactly as Serge Trifkovic did. Simply ask D'Souza a question or two about the most obvious and elementary of matters.
If nothing else, it will force him, after his "four years of studying Islam" to little effect, to actually have to start studying it — if only so as not to play the fool in public. Why, who knows? It may force him to learn something.
I can think of a dozen things right off the bat that Spencer or Trifkovic or others could ask D'Souza — very elementary things, but things I am sure he will not be able to answer.
He now has three choices:
1) Be shown up for an ignoramus, prating about things he knows very little, almost nothing, about.
2) Be forced to study Islam, and in so doing, he may have to modify some of his views.
3) Never appear where anyone can debate or even cross-question him about his knowledge of Islam.
I think Dinesh D'Souza will choose #3.
#1 is something he obscurely realizes he is, but like the mountebank hawking his wares at the County Fair, he has assumed that no one will call him on his hollow claims. But he can no longer assume that.
#2 requires work. It requires study. It requires thought. It requires making sense of many different things, of connecting the thigh-bone to the ankle-bone, in order the Hear the Word of the (Islamic) Lord. D'Souza long ago lost the habit of study, like so many of the pontificators of our day.
#3 it will be.
No more debates, for Dinesh D'Souza, with anyone at all. But what if — for him, a hellish What If — some of those interviewing him started to bone up on Islam, and asked him questions? What if on Talk Shows there were callers who would call up pretending that they were about to ask one thing, and then suddenly asked D'Souza one or more of those questions, the ones he cannot answer, to what should be his own great shame and chagrin? Then where would he be?
And the same can be done at those appearances he solicits for "Corporate Audiences" and "University Audiences." It is perfectly legitimate, it is hardly harassment, to simply ask him a few questions to see if this self-minted and self-described "expert on Islam" who has "studied it for four years" in fact knows anything.
Why, let's begin with the isnad-chain, and the work, and relative authority, of the muhaddithin. Or with "naskh." Or "fiqh" or "tafsir." Or for that matter, "Jihad" (give support for various definitions), or "dhimmi" or "Ahl al-dhimma."
And say, just what did happen at the Khaybar Oasis? And who was Asma bint Marwan? And who was little Aisha, and of what contemporary relevance is her story? And who can issue a fatwa, and what is the difference between a fatwa and a rukh? And what is the Treaty of Al-Hudaibiyya, and why does it matter? And who was Abu Bakr? Ali? Hussein? And what does the phrase "al-masjid al-aksa" mean, and who decided what that phrase must refer to?
As I said, let's keep it very simple — at first. By degrees, the questions can become more difficult.
Don't worry. I have faith that no matter how hard Dinesh D'Souza starts studying now, he simply won't be able to figure it all out. Not given the list of his authorities. Not given his mental incapacity.
There is more on the entrepreneur and world-conqueror Dinesh D'Souza, from the best source of information about Dinesh D'Souza: the Dinesh D'Souza website, where the copy is written by — Dinesh D'Souza.
Would you like Dinesh D'Souza to speak to your business convention, or perhaps to enlighten an annual meeting of the stockholders in Phoenix or Boca Raton? Well, you have come to the right place when you go to http://www.dineshdsouza.com, because according to Dinesh D'Souza at http://www.dineshdsouza.com:
"Dinesh D'Souza is one of the nation's most popular and acclaimed speakers for business and university audiences, and has been a featured guest on many popular television programs, including the Today Show, Nightline, O'Reilly Factor, Good Morning America, and The Dennis Miller Show.He speaks at top universities and business groups across the country, and among his recent engagements are the annual World President's Organization conference, Forbes CEO Summit, Harvard University, and the University of Virginia.
Mr. D'Souza is available to speak on a variety of subjects relating to contemporary business, politics and culture, including:
Hurry and call now to book Dinesh D'Souza for your next corporate or university event.
Don't delay. Operators are standing by.
No, sorry, let me correct that:
An Operator Is Standing By.
That operator's name is on the cover of the latest issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. The issue appears to have been written by the Development Office, hoping to win favor from some rich Muslim alumni — for it is otherwise difficult to explain the special solicitude for the clear tone of apologetics.
The two articles listed on the cover (which has a nice crescent and star) under the main line "Understanding the Muslim World" are:
1) What's New in Islamic and Arabic Studies, by Andrea Useem '95.
In this article you can learn all about what students are learning about — and it isn't the unadorned contents of Qur'an, hadith, and Sira. The words "dhimmi" and "Jizyah" are unlikely to be much in evidence in the Dartmouth classes on offer, but the innocent and impressionable students won't discover that in most other colleges either — and will just have to pick up a real knowledge of "Islamic and Arabic studies" outside the confines of MESA Nostra (google "MESA Nostra" for more).
2) "Radical Islam: Why We've Got it All Wrong," by Dinesh D'Souza.
In this article you can learn why "we've got it all wrong" — all of us: Snouck Hurgronje and Arthur Jeffery, St. Clair Tisdall and Joseph Schacht, David Margoliouth and Edmond Fagnan, Charles-Emmanuel Dufourcq and Hans Jansen, everyone who was a student of Islam in the Western world, in the golden, unafraid age, from about 1860 to 1960, when truths were told. Islam didn't change. The texts and teachings of Islam didn't change. What changed was the willingness of Western scholars to tell the truth about Islam. Now there is a climate of correctness and desire to blame the West. This attitude grew and grew until it now suffocates even baby truths in their cribs, as they attempt to let out their first squeals.
And "we've got it all wrong" if "we" are Ali Sina, and Ibn Warraq, and Irfan Khawaja, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Anwar Shaikh, and Azam Kamguian — "we" who have been born into Islam, pondered it deeply, considered carefully what it is about it that led us, each on his own, to come to conclusions that forced us to jettison Islam. "We've" got it as wrong as C. Snouck Hurgronje and Joseph Schacht.
But one person, above all other persons, has it right.
And his name is Dinesh D'Souza.
And he is right about Islam, as about so many things, when all the world has heretofore gotten it wrong.
Dinesh D'Souza, it should not be forgotten, is available for corporate and university speaking engagements.
For more information, simply click on http://www.dineshdsouza.com and then on "Events" or "Corporate Speaking" or "University Speaking."
Then you may contact Dinesh D'Souza directly to find out more details — especially about the fees.
Don't worry. Those fees are really, under the circumstances — what with Dinesh D'Souza getting it at long last right when all of the rest of us have "got it all wrong" — those fees are really very modest.
Don't delay. Call today.
That Operator Is Still Standing By.


text:
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text:
Review The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Random House 2005, 274 pages.
MOTIVATION for READING: You really didn't think that I'd let a hot book with the word 'pie' in the title escape me, did you? AND it's about words and books and the love of books! wonderful; all kinds of wonderfulness.
WHAT it's ABOUT: A writer, Juliet, emerging from the war-weary time after WWII is looking for an idea for her next book when she receives a letter from a gentleman who had one of her 'passed on' books; seems she had her name and address inside the front cover. With no idea if the letter would find her, the guy sent off a request for more information about the author Charles Lamb and how to get more books. He is from Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands that had been occupied by the Nazis for most of the war. And so Juliet begins a discovery of friendship and life and love. This is a heartwarming, funny, endearing gem of a book full of crazy wonderful characters, history of the war and the power of the human spirit. I heartfully and pie-fully recommend.
That's really all I need to say, I think. Five PIES.
Please visit Fyrefly's awesome book blog search if you would like to find more reviews: Book Blog Review Search
The official website has all sorts of fun stuff, too. Ya know, if you need even more information. I was going to include something about 'what-actors-should-play-the-parts' if they were to make a movie but even the comments for that give away hints of what happens in the book! Lots of protests, too: "PLEASE DO NOT MAKE A MOVIE! It would only ruin the story."
What do you think? If you've read this book, would you want to see a movie?


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A lot of women are ready for everything, just to stand out from the crowd and highlight their beauty. For several years at the peak of popularity gold nose pin designs remain, which make a certain piquancy to the appearance of any woman. According to statistics, men consider this decoration to be very sexy and attractive. Due to the wide range of gold nose pin designs with price, which are in our online store, you can constantly find jewellery, which you want to have. In general, the history of piercing began many centuries ago. Mentioning of such a decoration is even in the Biblical Scriptures. For many tribes puncture of the nose is a mandatory ritual.
Experts advise to choose the decoration and then to go to the salon. Initially, it is worth saying that silverware is not worth taking, because of getting into the puncture, the metal starts to darken. Particles of silver fall into the hole and lead to unaesthetic appearance. That is why, women who appreciate their beauty and respect themselves need to choose nose pin online made of gold. Be sure to check the nose pin design that the part that will be in the puncture, is not sampled because it will irritate the wound, and it will be a long time to heal. Also consider the fact that the head of the top over the puncture should not be large because the hole has to have an air. In addition, this will prevent the buildup of scar tissue along the edge of the wound. Choosing a gold nose pin online shopping, note the bend of the hook. It needs to be the maximum size in order to facilitate the process of donning.
Latest nose pin design seems to be the most common decoration. In our online store, which offers jewellery you can find several different options. Instead of the usual ones, such products can be in the form of a triangle and other geometrical figures. In principle, the range is quite wide. The advantage of these decorations is that they do not cause allergies and do not lose its appeal. No less popular are nose pin gold designs with diamonds. Usually, these products are a manifestation of financial viability. There are easier versions with semi-precious stones or Swarovski crystals.
Gold nose pins online in India had many-sided significance: it was used as a talisman against evil forces; a subject that gives amazing properties; the sign of the status, origin, age, merit media, finally, it had a purely utilitarian purpose.
Civilized nations are eagerly picked up by the use of nose pin designs gold. A pioneer in this field was Ancient Rome. Personal protection of Caesar had pierced nipples, rings which symbolized their military dignity. In Ancient Egypt, gold earrings for piercing and the other ones had the right to wear only the pharaohs, which were priests and Queens.
Piercing was found almost everywhere! The kings, hunters, merchants, sported with it in medieval Europe, soldiers and sailors earring used gold decorations in their noses, which served as a guarantee that they can be humanly buried, and if someone happens to die in a foreign land. Indian women pierced nose once they get married, the women of the Victorian era improved the shape of the breast this way.
Today you can buy nose pins online as the primary decoration, but still, it keeps the spirit of exotic extravagance, the sacredness that lived in it for many millennia. If you decide to make a piercing in your nose, it is best to do everything to avoid unpleasant consequences. It is not recommended to carry out this procedure at home, it will be much safer to do in a specialty or beauty salon. The material from which is made is your first decoration for the piercing, must be hypoallergenic (medical steel 316L, titanium or tungsten). But the best one is a gold item, which is proposed by our online store. Once the puncture is healed (usually within 6-8 weeks), you can insert the earring for piercing of a different material (maybe made of gold or silver).
In our online store, you can pick up the gold nose pin price according to your taste, because our range has it all: stud earrings for piercing of the nose. For those, who do not want to do a puncture, have the earrings for simulating a nose piercing. We have done our best, so you don't have to look for retail stores with jewellery for body piercing of dubious quality. All you need to do is to choose the gold nose pin with price on the photo and buy it without leaving your home.
We offer everyone to choose the best and the most charming pins for the nose, which will attract attention and complete your unique image. Be sure, that you will buy quality goods, made of controlled materials, which doesn't cause allergy. Just choose the appropriate pin from this section of our catalog and buy it online. We will contact you to discuss all the details and send you the purchase.


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Students at the Swinburne University of Technology have built a robot called Ruby, that can solve a fully scrambled Rubik's cube in just 10 seconds. The robot uses cameras to scan each face of the cube and then uses a software algorithm to solve the puzzle. Now, that's called Artificial Intelligence!
While Ruby is the fastest bot to solve the cube, the fastest human time for solving the cube is 6.24 seconds, so Ruby needs to work a little harder to beat that ;)


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- News
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OTTAWA — Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Friday the government will oppose legislation that would require her to implement recommendations of her own expert panel aimed at getting Canadians to use less salt.
A private member's bill from NDP health critic Libby Davies, debated at second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, calls on Aglukkaq to act on the advice of members of the Sodium Working Group, convened by her Conservative predecessor in the health portfolio, Tony Clement, to devise a strategy to reduce the sodium intake of Canadians.
Most of the recommendations, developed by industry representatives, public-health experts and Health Canada bureaucrats, have been collecting dust since the group presented Aglukkaq with its recommendations in 2010.
"It's not a strategy I came up with, it's a strategy that already exists. It was developed by the expert Sodium Working Group in 2010," Davies told MPs Friday.
"The federal government must demonstrate its leadership and follow through on the incredible body of work and the plan that's been produced. That, to me, is a duty. It is a duty; it is a public responsibility and anything less than that is a cop out."
Recommendations to reduce the average sodium intake from about 3,400 mg per person per day to 2,300 mg by 2016 included: a consumer education campaign, a monitoring plan and public database to track if individual food products meet specific reduction targets, and new regulations to force companies to use uniform serving sizes in the nutritional fact on food packages and require industry calculations of a product's percentage of recommended daily sodium consumption be based on a benchmark of 1,500 mg of sodium rather than the current 2,400 mg. Health Canada's recommended daily intake level for sodium is 1,500 mg.
Aglukkaq has maintained she supports the goal of meeting the average sodium intake reduction target. She said Friday, however, that she doesn't like the proposed way to achieve that goal.
Without the backing of the federal cabinet, the NDP will need the support of some Tory backbenchers to secure the bill's passage. The Liberal caucus is expected to vote in favour of the bill, but the two opposition parties don't have enough votes to get legislation passed in the House of Commons.
The bill calls for the creation of "a massive new bureaucracy called the Sodium Registry," requiring a variety of companies – from family bakeries to restaurants – "to register with the government how much salt they put in their food," Aglukkaq said in a statement Friday.
"Our government's focus is on providing Canadians information they need to make healthy decisions for their families. The NDP's priorities are: soft on crime and tough on potato chips."
The private member's bill, supported by the Canadian Medical Association and 40 other health groups and experts, is the latest move to press the federal government on the sodium file after Aglukkaq disbanded her own expert panel at the end of 2010, preventing it from setting up a monitoring system to track industry progress through 2016.
The Sodium Working Group pressed for action by citing research estimating that a decrease in the average sodium intake to about 1,800 mg per day would prevent 23,500 cardiovascular disease events every year, resulting in direct health-care savings of $1.38 billion per year. The panel also emphasized that an estimated 77 per cent of a person's salt intake comes from processed foods and restaurant items.
Since Aglukkaq disbanded the group, companies have failed to provide progress data and Health Canada has not set up a public database for receiving and publishing it, says member Bill Jeffrey, national co-ordinator of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest.
Meanwhile, provinces called out the federal government last year for failing to follow through on commitments to reduce the sodium intake of Canadians when they released their own sodium strategy. The move came after Aglukkaq refused at the last minute to endorse a federal-provincial sodium-reduction plan at a health ministers in Halifax in November 2011.
Aglukkaq backed away from the plan, based on the recommendations of Sodium Working Group, because it would have singled out food companies for failing to meet specific sodium-reduction targets for individual products, and because the group stated that regulations should be considered if voluntary measures fail.
"This bill should not be necessary," Dr. Hedy Fry, the Liberal health critic, said in the House of Commons to express her support for the bill.
Speaking on Aglukkaq's behalf in the House of Commons, parliamentary secretary Colin Carrie called the bill "heavy handed" and cited a "major flaw" in it.
"Because it addresses processed foods, the NDP could spend millions on a sodium registry but Canadians who want choice can still pick that up and put the salt on their food," said Carrie, referring to a salt shaker.
"That's why our voluntary approach is better, especially with the education and the collaboration."


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3 of 17
Chicken Taco Salad
A taco salad to be proud of, with fresh ingredients and a cumin-flavored Tex-Mex dressing.
We're all familiar with the ugly Salad Hall of Shame version of this dish, but now it's time to try a delicious rendition. We did away with the funky canned ingredients and greasy fried shell and opted for fresh corn, avocado, and tomato and a cumin-flavored Tex-Mex dressing.... Read More
View Recipe


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Responsible Conduct in Research (RCR)
Office of Research and Scholarship
The University of Texas at Tyler is committed to truth, accuracy and intellectual honesty in scientific investigation and scholarship in the classroom, in proposing and conducting studies, reporting of results, and in relations with colleagues.
Misconduct or fraud in research is an offense that damages not only the reputation of those involved but also that of the entire educational community. The University of Texas at Tyler complies with the Federal Office of Research Integrity in promoting ethical conduct in biomedical and behavioral research and all aspects of the research enterprise.
Misconduct or fraud in scientific research is the fabrication, falsification, plagiarism of data or related information in the proposing, performing, reviewing or reporting of research results, tampering with the research of others and other practices that materially deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the academic community.
Misconduct in scientific research can be reported to any official of the University. Such a disclosure triggers an inquiry where the facts are examined and the University determines whether or not to conduct a full investigation. A full investigation involves an in-depth University Committee examination of the allegations. A recommendation is given to the President if disciplinary action against the researcher should be taken.
What is NOT Scientific Misconduct
Honest errors or honest differences in interpretations or judgments of data are not considered to be misconduct. Findings of misconduct require significant departure from accepted practices of the scientific community for maintaining the integrity of the research record; must have been committed intentionally, or knowingly or in reckless disregard of accepted practices; and, the allegations must be proven by a preponderance of evidence.


text:
Node 3: Connecting Module
Node-3 or Tranquillity houses the life support equipment necessary for the International Space Station crew. It also accommodates ESA's Cupola observation module, a seven window dome-shaped structure from where the Space Station's robotic arm, Canadarm 2, is operated. From Cupola the crew have a panoramic view of space. Launched on Space Shuttle flight STS-130 in February 2010, Node-3 was attached to the port side of Node-1 Unity.
|Node-3 specifications
|6706 mm
|4480 mm
|Mass budget
|Launch mass
|15 500 kg
|On-orbit payload mass
|19 000 kg


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In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Vecna was a powerful wizard who became a lich, and eventually achieved godhood. He is a member of the third edition's default pantheon of D&D gods (the pantheon of Oerth). Notably, Vecna is missing both his left eye and left hand. Vecna's holy symbol is an eye in the palm of a left hand. Vecna was also named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history by the final print issue of Dragon.[1]
Vecna's "right hand man" (and then ultimately his betrayer) is Kas the Bloody-Handed, a death knight, whose sword, the Sword of Kas, is also an artifact.
- 1 Publishing history
- 2 Description
- 3 Relationships
- 4 Dogma
- 5 Worshippers
- 6 Artifacts
- 7 History
- 8 Writings
- 9 Vecna in other media
- 10 References
- 11 Additional reading
Publishing history[edit source]
Vecna was created by Brian Blume in the original D&D supplement Eldritch Wizardry in 1976. The name Vecna is an anagram of Jack Vance,[2] the fantasy author whose "fire-and-forget" magic system is used in Dungeons & Dragons.
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)[edit source]
Vecna is first mentioned in the Eldritch Wizardry (1976) supplement for the original Dungeons & Dragons game. Under the description of the artifacts the Hand and Eye of Vecna, he is mentioned as the lich from whom the parts came.[3]
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)[edit source]
His first mention in an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons product was in 1979's Dungeon Master's Guide.[4] During this time, Vecna was regarded only as a long-destroyed legendary lich of great power, able to threaten player characters only through the presence of his two existing artifacts, the Hand and Eye of Vecna.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)[edit source]
Vecna's history is expanded under the description of the Hand and Eye of Vecna in the second edition Dungeon Master's Guide (1989).
With the release of the adventure Vecna Lives! in 1990, Vecna was recast by TSR, Inc. as a demigod, and the chief antagonist of the adventure. At the end of the adventure, presuming the players defeat Vecna, he is transported to the Ravenloft campaign setting.[5] Two more Vecna-centered modules followed, 1998's Vecna Reborn, set in Ravenloft[6], and 2000's Die Vecna Die!, which spanned the Greyhawk, Ravenloft, and Planescape settings.[7]
Vecna was one of the deities described in the From the Ashes set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign.[8]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)[edit source]
Wizards of the Coast continued the character's theme of ascending godhood in the Third Edition Player's Handbook (2000), which lists him as a Lesser deity.[9] Some fans of the game have also speculated that the events of Die Vecna Die! serve as an in-game explanation of the changes from Second to Third Edition[1] [2] [3], just as Fate of Istus did the same for the transition from First to Second Edition.
Third Edition further raised Vecna's profile in the game, making him a member of the game's "core pantheon." It is interesting to note that Vecna's alignment was changed from Lawful Evil to Neutral Evil in Third Edition, and no in-game explanation has surfaced.
Vecna's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).[10]
Vecna is detailed in Deities and Demigods (2002).[11]
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)[edit source]
Vecna appears in the revised Players Handbook for this edition (2003).[12] His priesthood is detailed for this edition in Complete Divine (2004).[13]
Vecna was one of the deities featured in Libris Mortis (2004).[14]
Vecna and his priesthood were expanded upon in Dragon #348, in the "Core Beliefs" column.
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)[edit source]
Vecna appears as one of the deities described in the Dungeon Master's Guide for this edition (2008).[15]
Vecna is given a set of statistics in Open Grave (2008).
Description[edit source]
Vecna is usually depicted as a powerful magician resembling a desiccated corpse missing his left hand and eye. A constant theme in the adventures in which the character appears is Vecna's never-ending quest for power, ending, should he succeed, with Vecna as the only deity in existence.
Relationships[edit source]
Vecna has few allies, and countless enemies. His greatest, and perhaps only true ally is the mysterious entity known as the Serpent. The famed cambion lich Acererak once served Vecna, but the current status of their relationship is unknown. Among Vecna's staunchest foes are Kas, Iuz, Saint Cuthbert, the Lady of Pain, Pholtus, and the Circle of Eight.
Vecna is opposed by the Old Faith and the Silent Ones.
Dogma[edit source]
Scriptures[edit source]
Being a secretive cult, there are no real collections of Vecnan teachings. However, copies of the Book of Vile Darkness are highly prized by the cult for Vecna's role in that work's development.
Worshippers[edit source]
Vecna's cult is very secretive, and cells have been uncovered, at various points in history, in Diamond Lake, Greyhawk, and Verbobonc. Temples to Vecna have also been reported in the Pomarj town of Highport and Erelhei-Cinlu, the debased city at the heart of the Vault of the Drow.
Hierarchy[edit source]
Each position in Vecna's cult is named for a certain body part. At the top is Vecna himself, followed by the Voice of Vecna, which can only be filled by Vecna's manifestation.
Next is the Heart of Vecna, the high priest of the cult. The last known Heart of Vecna was Diraq Malcinex of Ket, who was slain by adventurers in 581 CY.
Immediately below the Heart of Vecna are two bizarre monsters known as the Hand and the Eye. The Eye of Vecna creature appears as a slender humanoid with an eyeball for a head, whereas the Hand of Vecna appears as a stocky humanoid with a huge left hand where its head should be.
Individual congregations are known as organs. Each organ is led by a Thought of Vecna. Lesser priests are known as Memories of Vecna.
Lay members of the cult consist of the Teeth, Fingers, Blood, and Spawn of Vecna. The Teeth of Vecna are made up of wizards, and specialize in arcane spellcasting and crafting magical items for the cult. The Fingers of Vecna consist mainly of thieves, who engage in various forms of subterfuge. The Blood of Vecna are mainly warriors charged with protection and enforcement of the cult and its goals. The Spawn of Vecna are the lowest in the cult hierarchy, and consist of the common people who honor the Lich Lord.
Other Vecnan organizations[edit source]
Other Vecnan organizations are known to exist outside of the mainstream cult, and some may have similar or identical names. Relations between these groups and the mainstream cult may vary. Known examples are the Eyes of Vecna (a cult of undeath consisting mainly of rogues), the Fingers of Vecna (Vecna's personal guard), and the Ebon Triad (a heretical cult seeking to merge Vecna, Hextor, and Erythnul into a single entity).
Artifacts[edit source]
Hand and Eye of Vecna[edit source]
Vecna's left hand and eye of Vecna's original "mortal" lich form, which have never been replaced in his later more powerful incarnations, are now high-valued and very dangerous magical artifacts. To use the powers of the Hand of Vecna or the Eye of Vecna one is required to cut off one's own corresponding body part and affix Vecna's in its place.
Sword of Kas[edit source]
Vecna created the Sword of Kas for his greatest servant, which contains a "portion of his consciousness."
This interpretation is relatively recent. As per the 1st edition Dungeon Master's Guide, Vecna only procured this most powerful sword for his chief lieutenant. Similarly, depending on edition and source, its appearance has varied, from a short sword to a wavy bladed two hander. However, it is undoubtable that the Sword is inextricably tied to Vecna's relics.
Other artifacts[edit source]
A number of Vecna's other body parts are presented as minor artifacts in Die Vecna Die!, including the First Digit (right thumb), Second Digit (right index finger), Third Digit (right middle finger), Last Digit (right pinky finger), Incisors (a pair of inappropriately named fang-like canines), Molar, Scalp, Skin, Heart, Foot (left), and Right Eye. These artifacts are collectively known in D&D 3rd Edition as the Fragments of Vecna. The Compendium Maleficarum is a book of spells, doctrines, and secrets crafted entirely from bone (even the pages) and penned in blood, that is on par with the Fragments of Vecna. The Tome of Shared Secrets is an illustrated bestiary of relic status, with the ability to impart knowledge of dark and evil creatures at the cost of a portion the user's life force. The Rod of the Whispered One, while not nearly so powerful as the Sword of Kas, is another item Vecna crafted to connect himself with his highest lieutenants. The final issue of Dragon Magazine, issue #359, featured rules for the "Left Ear of Vecna" as a minor artifact. It grants the owner magical bonuses to hearing and resisting sonic attacks, spell-like abilities to inflict deafness, grant clairaudience and create sonic blasts, and enables them to understand any spoken language.
Head of Vecna[edit source]
The Head of Vecna was a hoax that one adventuring party played on another in a campaign run by game master Mark Steuer. One of the groups tricked the other into going on a quest for the Head of Vecna, a hoax artifact that was supposedly similar to his Hand and Eye, but was simply an ordinary severed head. The hoax takes advantage of the fact that the Eye and Hand require a person to remove their own eye or hand and replace it with the artifact to function. The characters involved in the story reasoned that they needed to decapitate themselves to gain the powers of the Head of Vecna, and several members of the group actually fought over which character would get to have his head cut off and replaced. After the third character died, the joke was revealed.
A full account of the story can be read at The Story of The Head of Vecna.
The Head of Vecna later made a canonical appearance in Die Vecna Die!
History[edit source]
Vecna was born as a human, centuries ago as a member of the untouchable caste in the Flan city of Fleeth on Oerth. He was initially trained by his mother, Mazzel, in the art of magic, before she was executed by the government of Fleeth for practicing witchcraft. Vowing revenge, Vecna eventually assumed a mastery of the dark arts achieved by no mortal before or since. Some say this achievement was due to direct tutelage by Mok'slyk the Serpent, believed to be the personification of arcane magic itself.
Nearly one thousand years after his birth, Vecna, now a lich and ruler of a great and terrible empire (in the Sheldomar Valley, centered near the modern-day Rushmoors), laid siege to the city of Fleeth with an army of arcane spellcasters and undead. Legend has it that Vecna was nearly slain in this battle by clerics channeling the power of Pholtus, the god of light. The clerics unleashed a great burst of light, which hit Vecna primarily on his left side. Vecna was rescued and brought to safety by one of his wizard generals, a cambion named Acererak (who would one day himself become a mighty demilich).
Vecna eventually recovered. On the verge of conquering Fleeth, the officials of the city came before him to beg for mercy. They offered up the entire city and her wealth if only Vecna would spare the lives of her citizens. When Vecna was not satisfied, the officials offered their own lives. Vecna gave one of their number, Artau, and his family, over to his lieutenant, Kas, who spent the entire day torturing and murdering them before the other officials. Still unsatisfied, Vecna slaughtered all within the city, and had their heads stacked before the officials, with those of their family members prominent. Vecna then granted his mercy, granting the officials leave to depart, and promising them his protection for the rest of their lives.
At his empire's height, Vecna was betrayed and destroyed by his most trusted lieutenant, a vampire called Kas the Bloody-Handed, using a magical sword that Vecna himself had crafted for him, now known as the Sword of Kas. Only his left hand and his eye survived the battle, perhaps because of the previous events in Fleeth.
Vecna did not stay gone forever, and rose as a demigod of magic and secrets in the world of Greyhawk. In 581 CY, his cult helped set events in motion that would have granted him the power of a greater god, but the plan was ultimately foiled. After these events, Vecna ended up imprisoned in the demiplane of Ravenloft, but broke free again later, emerging with the power of a greater god, after absorbing the power of Iuz. He then broke free into the city of Sigil, where he came perilously close to rearranging all existence to his whims. (Vecna's multiverse shattering campaign in Sigil is used as an in-universe way to explain the differences between the 2nd and 3rd editions of Dungeons & Dragons.). When Vecna was ejected from Sigil by a party of adventurers, Iuz was freed and Vecna returned to Oerth greatly reduced in power, though still a lesser god.
In the events of the Living Greyhawk campaign setting, Vecna's machinations allowed him to reappear on the prime material plane and retake his place in the Oerth pantheon.
Writings[edit source]
At some point in his history, Vecna penned a tome known as Ordinary Necromancy. He is also rumored to have made significant additions to the Book of Vile Darkness.
Although not actually penned by him, the Book of Keeping (a book of yugoloth summoning) is heavily linked with the cult of Vecna, as the cultists have the only known copies that are free of the intentional errors introduced into the book by the fiends that wrote the volume as a trap for would-be summoners.
Vecna in other media[edit source]
- The Robe of Vecna appears as a powerful Mage-only suit of armour in the computer role-playing game Baldur's Gate II, as well as in Neverwinter Nights.
- In the 1999 CRPG Planescape: Torment, Fall-From-Grace (a puritan succubus) asks Morte (a disembodied floating skull) "What are you?", to which Morte replies "Me? I'm the head of Vecna." A similar conversation between the two involves Morte saying "It's a long story involving the head of Vecna. I don't want to talk about it." Grace responds with an amused "That was you?" Also in the same game, the Eye of Vecna is a rare item dropped by greater glabrezu.
- In Slash'EM, the Hand of Vecna is a very useful artifact, gained after killing Vecna himself in the Chaotic Quest.
- In the roguelike game Angband, Vecna makes an appearance as one of the most powerful unique monsters in the game.
- Vecna as well as his lieutenant Kas the Bloody-Handed appear in a Nodwick strip published in Dragon magazine that parodied the Vecna series of modules.
- Vecna and the Sword of Kas appear in the final story arc of Vox Machina, the featured adventuring party in the first campaign of Geek & Sundry's show Critical Role.
References[edit source]
- ↑ Bulmahn, Jason; James Jacobs, Mike McArtor, Erik Mona, F. Wesley Schneider, Todd Stewart, Jeremy Walker (September, 2007). "1d20 Villains: D&D's Most Wanted; Preferably Dead". Dragon (Pazio) 32(4) (359): 54–69.
- ↑ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_anagrams.html
- ↑ Gygax, Gary, and Brian Blume. Eldritch Wizardry (TSR, 1976)
- ↑ Gygax, Gary. Dungeon Master's Guide (TSR, 1979)
- ↑ Cook, David. Vecna Lives! (TSR, 1990)
- ↑ Cook, Monte. Vecna Reborn (TSR, 1998)
- ↑ Cordell, Bruce, and Steve Miller. Die Vecna Die! (TSR, 2000)
- ↑ Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992)
- ↑ Tweet, Jonathan, Cook, Monte, Williams, Skip. Player's Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ↑ Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ↑ Redman, Rich, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Deities and Demigods (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
- ↑ Tweet, Jonathan, Cook, Monte, Williams, Skip. Player's Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
- ↑ Noonan, David. Complete Divine (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
- ↑ Collins, Andy and Bruce R Cordell. (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)
- ↑ James Wyatt. Dungeon Masters Guide (Wizards of the Coast, 2008).
Additional reading[edit source]
- Vecna at the Great Library of Greyhawk.
- Brown, Anne. Player's Guide (TSR, 1998).
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0 (Wizards of the Coast, 2005). Available online: [4]
- Cook, Monte. Book of Vile Darkness (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
- Cook, Monte. Vecna Reborn (TSR, 1998).
- Heard, Bruce. "Spells Between the Covers." Dragon #82 (TSR, 1984).
- Mona, Erik. "Ancient History: Vecna's Realm." [5]
- Moore, Roger E. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).
- Mullin, Robert S. "Arcane Lore: Greyhawk Grimoires II." Dragon #241 (TSR, 1997).
- Mullin, Robert S. "Campaign Classics: Three Greyhawk Grimoires." Dragon #225 (TSR, 1996).
- Niles, Douglas, and Carl Sargent. The City of Greyhawk (TSR, 1989).
- Reynolds, Sean K, and Chris Pramas. Slavers (TSR, 2000).
- Sargent, Carl. Ivid the Undying (TSR, unpublished). Available online: [6]
- Thorsson, Modi, and Kevin McCann. Vecna: Hand of the Revenant, (Iron Hammer Graphics, 2002).
- Weiss, Samuel. "Grand Sheldomar Timeline, Part I." [7]
- Living Greyhawk Journal no. 3 - "Gods of Oerth"
- Cavitian: The tongue of Vecna.
|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).


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JTA is reporting that the BOGOHO deal does apply to the Ewok/Pilot packs too.Ugh, I just bought mine yesterday. Would have waited and picked up an extra for my friend if I had known about this.
I just got a coupon emailed to me from TRU for buy one get one 75% off on all Star Wars action figures, play sets & accessories valid 9/6/12 onlyplus a save $10 off $50 of regularly priced merchandise - this coupon cannot be combined with any other coupon
Target has the maul bp for $18..
Quote from: iFett on September 16, 2012, 12:15 PMTarget has the maul bp for $18..Is that at all Targets?
What's the time limit for price adjustments? I bought the Return of Maul set just last week but the new Vintage 3 packs at the middle of August. Would love to get an adjustment on those, that would be about $15 total.
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Online Ad Firms Fight Losses as Revenues Rise
Aggressive Investment Strategies Strain Bottom Lines; Automated Initiatives Are Developed
Marketers are spending more money on Internet advertising than ever before. But so far, that isn't trickling down to the bottom lines of most of the young publicly traded online ad firms whose stock prices have tumbled in recent months.
The firms aren't household names such as Google Inc. or Facebook Inc., but smaller companies that help marketers buy ad space and deliver those ads on websites and in applications. They include automated ad-buying company Rocket Fuel Inc., online video-ad firm YuMe Inc., ad-technology provider...
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It's a speaking habit affected mostly by male speakers, in my experience. Typically, the arguments in favor of this stance in a presentation are that it's a "studied casual" look, something that exudes a relaxed, confident air. It also solves the problem many speakers anticipate of what they should do with their hands. But while this may work for models in the Sears catalog or on cool 1960s record albums, it doesn't work well for speakers.
I use a different argument against hands in pockets, typically citing Michael Erard's book Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean. Few speakers realize that gestures are critical to them and their audiences. Gestures help the audience comprehend what you're saying, even when the gesture isn't precisely matched to what you're saying. But they also help the speaker's brain download to his mouth to produce the words he wants to say. If you immobilize your hands--by gripping the lectern, or putting them in your pockets--you are more likely to stumble in your speech, saying um, uh, or habadahhabadahhabadah when you really want to say something more eloquent.
I've found that a convincing argument, but my friend and former colleague Steve Tally just shared another, old-school (and pretty foolproof) method of curing this habit. His grandfather, the Rev. Sanford Ferguson, was pastor of the Tulip Church of God in Bloomfield, Indiana, and, it must be told, a big fan of hands-in-pockets while speaking in public. His wife, Glenda Ferguson, disagreed--a woman after my own heart.
Mrs. Ferguson, it turned out, had a better tool than most public speaking coaches do. She just sewed shut her husband's pockets. End of story.
Missing your needle and thread, or had this done to you? Read "What should I do with my hands when presenting?" for more useful alternatives.


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How Investing Experts Think About the Stock Market as a Whole
When people refer to "the stock market" or "the market" it can sometimes be confusing to beginning investors as to what those terms actually mean. Are they talking about all the stocks that trade on the NYSE, all the stocks that trade in the U.S., or all the stocks in the world? Typically when people refer to "the market" they are talking about all the publicly traded stocks in this country (they will usually say "the global market" if they mean the entire world).
Efficient MarketProponents of the efficient market theory believe that there is perfect information in the stock market. This means that whatever information is available about a stock to one investor is available to all investors (except, of course, insiders, but insider trading is illegal). Since everyone has the same information about a stock, the price of a stock should reflect the knowledge and expectations of all investors. The bottom line is that you should not be able to "beat the market" since there is no way for you to know something about a stock that isn't already reflected in the stock's price. That's not to say that efficient market theory fans claim that all stocks are necessarily priced correctly; instead, they claim that there is no way for you to know whether or not prices are too high or too low. Proponents of this theory spend little time trying to pick stocks that are going to be "winners"; instead, they simply try to match the market's performance. However, there is ample evidence to dispute the basic claims of this theory, and most investors don't believe it.
Random WalkThe random walk theory draws conclusions that are similar to the efficient market theory, but it uses a different line of reasoning. The theory takes its name from a well-known book by Burton Malkiel (although others pioneered the idea decades earlier) which says that future stock prices are completely independent of past stock prices. In other words, the path that a stock's price follows is a "random walk" that cannot be determined from historical price information, especially in the short term. Much like efficient market theory fans, the random walkers believe that it is impossible to pick "winning" stocks and that your best bet is just to try to match the market's performance, usually by using a long-term buy and hold strategy.
Behavioral FinanceBehavioral finance theory is very different from the random walk and the efficient market theories. Proponents of behavioral finance believe that there are important psychological and behavioral variables involved in investing in the stock market that provide opportunities for smart investors to profit. For example, when a certain stock or sector becomes "hot" and prices increase substantially without a change in the company's fundamentals, behavioral finance theorists would attribute this to mass psychology (also known as the "follow the herd instinct"). They therefore might short the stock in the long term, knowing that eventually the psychological bubble will burst and they will profit.
Bull and Bear MarketsIn addition to the three market theories mentioned above, there are other ways of thinking about the market as a whole, that are less theoretical and more grounded in what is actually happening to them. One way is to describe the overall trends in the market, such as by defining them as bearish or bullish. A bull market, loosely defined, is a market in which the major stock indexes have risen by over 20% over a substantial period of time, usually measured in months or years. Bull markets can happen as a result of an economic recovery, an economic boom, or simple investor psychology. The longest and most famous of all bull markets is the one that began in the early 1990s in which the U.S. equity markets grew at their fastest pace ever.
Bear markets are the exact opposite of bull markets: they are markets in which the major indexes have declined by 20% or more over a period of at least two months (a decline that large for any shorter time period is simply called a "correction", especially if it followed a substantial rise). Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly. The most famous bear market in U.S. history was, of course, the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Seasonal and Time-Related Market FactorsDuring certain times of the year or certain times of the month, the markets tend to exhibit certain behaviors more often than would be predicted by chance. For example, the early fall, October in particular, has historically been a time when the markets have slumped, although the effect isn't extremely pronounced and there isn't a logical explanation for it. Strong stock performance in January is another example of a seasonal market trend. The so-called "January Effect" occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Once the tax calendar rolls over to a new year on January 1st these same investors quickly reinvest their money in the market, causing stock prices to rise. But although the January effect has been observed numerous times throughout history, it is difficult for investors to profit from it since the market as a whole expects it to happen and therefore adjusts its prices accordingly.
By InvestorGuide Staff
Posted in ...Investing


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A friend of mine, Sam, recently listed his Nokia Lumia phone for sale online. After making arrangements to meet a buyer, he went to the AT&T store to have them wipe his phone of personal data. Unfortunately, the process killed his phone. He let the buyer know, who then, apparently angered by the cancelled deal, began sending weird texts to Sam's new iPhone.
How could Sam have avoided the hassle? He could have used Burner, an app that lets people create disposable numbers that they can give out in place of their real number. Burner today (April 10) released an app for Android phones and a major update for iPhone.
The software takes the place of burner phones, cheap mobiles that can be picked up at a local convenience store with no identifying account information associated with them. Burner offers similar anonymity without the need for another phone. Instead of tossing the phone, you delete the phone number the app generated.
Disposable numbers aren't only for drug dealers — just ask Sam. In fact, anonymous numbers come in handy for a variety of activities, such as getting quotes on a service when you don't want follow-up calls, first dates when you're really not sure if there will be a second one and, as in Sam's case, whenever you sell something online.
Burner numbers aren't free, but they're flexible. For instance, $1.99 will buy a Mini Burner, a number that will last for seven days, 20 talk minutes or 60 texts, whichever comes first. A burner can be extended by buying additional in-app credits before it expires. Those who need a number that lasts longer and handles more traffic, can spend $4.99 for a 60-day number (75 minutes or 225 texts) or a 30-day number that can be used for 90 minutes or 270 texts. You can "burn" a number at any time, which will delete it immediately and take it out of service.
The Burner app includes voicemail and an inbox that work a lot like those in your regular service. You'll see a list of recent calls and a list of all calls. You can favorite calls by tapping a star icon, and you can record a voicemail messages that callers hear when they dial your Burner numbers.
Download the free app and start by typing in your mobile phone number, which Burner uses for forwarding your future disposable numbers. Burner will text you a verification code.
Name your burner number, such as "KSL phone sale," and choose your area code. Burner will generate a disposable number that can be used immediately to place a call, text a number or share with others, including on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (see below) and email.
Once you burn a number, you cannot recover it. While Burner supports SMS text messaging, you can't use MMS messaging, meaning no photos or video. You cannot use a burner number to make emergency 911 calls.
Follow Leslie Meredith @lesliemeredith. Follow us @TechNewsDaily, on Facebook or on Google+.
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Damian Whitewood And Danielle Spencer Place Second In Dancing With The Stars Australia (Videos)
As previously reported to you last week, pro Damian Whitewood and his partner Danielle Spencer made it to Grand Finals in the Austrialian version of Dancing With The Stars. Unfortunately they didn't win, but, the two gave it their all and ended up placing SECOND in a Freestyle dance off at the end with X Factor finalist, Johnny Ruffo, and his dance partner, Luda Kroitor who won the mirror ball! The Sunshine Coast Daily has a review up on the night. Here is a take….
The grand final was a dance-off to the end between Johnny Ruffo, singer/songwriter Danielle Spencer and Packed to the Rafters star Zoe Cramond.
After scoring the lowest in her first dance for the night, dancing darling Cramond was the first finalist to be eliminated, leaving Spencer and Ruffo to battle it out in the freestyle round.
Judge Joshua Horner said the Cha Cha face-off highlighted the talent of our final three.
"Some people have a romance. Some blokes have a bromance. Right now, I have a showmance," Horner said.
And after Ruffo ripped his shirt off during the performance, judge Helen Richey said she was impressed
"You should have taken your top off earlier darling," she said.
Dancing With The Stars Australia's official site is reporting that "after combing the judges scores with the viewer vote" the final scores were:
JOHNNY RUFFO & Luda Kroitor 28 (Foxtrot) + 26 (Cha Cha face off) + 30 (Freestyle Dance)
DANIELLE SPENCER & Damian Whitewood 28 (Jive) + 27 (Cha Cha face off ) + 29 (Freestyle Dance)
ZOE CRAMOND & Aric Yudekin 28 (Jive) + 27 (Cha Cha face off)
Below is some video coverage thanks to PriscellaDebra at You Tube. Damian and Danielle revisted their Jive for the Redemption dance. Next up, the top three danced a Sudden Death Cha Cha, and lastly, the final two couples dance their Freestyle. Great dances, but, it looks like Danielle's nerves might have played an issue in the first dance the most? Let us know what you think?
You'll be able to view more coverage on the entire night and see some new photos soon at Dancing With The Stars Australia's official site. Stay tuned.


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So basically I think Nas is a genius in every way shape and form. Why? Because he wore a shirt that says "Nigger" to the Grammys, and "No" I was not scared to type that word. Historically "nigger" has been one of those words black people should have never gotten used to, but just decided to turn it into something "positive", like how feminists attempt to claim that "bitch" is a term of endearment? All that is a load of crap, the most crap you will probably ever hear in your young life. I cant even lie though, I do use "nigga" probably about every 12 seconds in between profanities, but that's something I can conquer in due time. Anyway Nas CLEARLY has a bigger agenda that has nothing to do with promotion, he wants to basically in a sense symbolically delete the words' meaning in order to grow from the negativity stemming from it. Of course he knows good and damn well that the word will always hold its negative connotation, but he wants to make people aware of what they are saying, aware of all of the baggage that one word carries. In a recent video i saw,Nas states that he wants to "take the power from the word", a difficult feat for anyone, even a famous rapper lol. This could be one of the most influential albums of our time (next to The Cool), Nas is making the hip hop community recognize all of the issues surrounding this one word (hence the change from "nigga" to "nigger") he is forcing us to pay attention and face it, not to cover it up and pretend like its not there. This album will not be celebratory, not a glorification of the glitz and glam of "nigga", but a factual realization of the negativity surrounding "nigger", the ignorance surrounding that word and its glamorous counterpart. You gotta support this album folks, if you don't it's like not supporting Obama--better yet it's like being a Republican, and who wants to be that?
Monday, February 11, 2008
"it's just an album, not a civil rights march"-esco himself
1 comments:
- Anonymous said...
DJ again. Just wrote about that a couple weeks ago (had no clue about Nas' idea, thanks for the heads up). I'm mix, but I still 'ont like when a friend calls me nigga here n there. Its a shame its looked at as acceptance in our (yes speaking from my half black side ha, not the part white/spanish side) community. Keep dropping knowledge. God Bless
- February 26, 2008 at 11:01 AM
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Agency Charges Salvadoran Was Victimized by Supervisor
NORFOLK, Va. – A plastering and drywall company doing work at Norfolk Naval Base and MacArthur Center mall violated federal law when it subjected an employee of Salvadoran origin to a hostile work environment based on both his sex and national origin, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
The EEOC's suit (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Tidewater Plastering and Drywall Company, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:10-cv-00369), filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, charged that Virginia Beach-based Tidewater Plastering and Drywall Company, Inc. created and maintained a hostile working environment for Jorge Calderon based on both his male gender and Salvadoran national origin. According to the complaint, from around September 2008 until February 2009, a male foreman for Tidewater Plastering subjected Calderon to unwelcome sexual conduct. The conduct included calling Calderon "sexy," blowing him kisses and caressing his hands and back. The complaint also alleged that on one occasion the foreman also told Calderon that Calderon would have to sleep with the foreman in order to work at Tidewater Plastering's next job site.
The same foreman also made derogatory comments to Calderon based on his national origin, including calling him a "stupid Salvadoran." According to the complaint, when Calderon sought the help of his employer to end the harassment, the president of the company told him that nothing could be done. Consequently, Calderon quit his job.
The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for Calderon, as well as an injunction enjoining Tidewater Plastering from engaging in similar discrimination again and requiring it to take other measures to ensure a workplace free of discrimination for future employees. The agency filed suit after first attempting to settle the matter informally.
"Offering employees avenues for reporting harassment and then responding appropriately to employee complaints are critical in maintaining a workplace free from unlawful harassment," said Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for EEOC's Charlotte District Office which also has jurisdiction over Virginia. "This is true across all industries. Employees in the construction industry have just as much right as persons in any other occupation to a workplace free from unlawful harassment."
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
News and Commentary on Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, Civil Rights and Diversity - Brought to you by the American Association for Access, Equity, and Diversity (AAAED)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Virginia Beach Plastering Company Sued by EEOC for Same-Sex and National Origin Harassment
1 comment:
- Ruddy Lorrie said...
That plaster company was over the line! Fry these sicko's!
- September 28, 2010 at 11:03 AM
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Jos. A. Bank
4.00 average rating based on 44,405 reviews
- BizrateNov 15, 2017Overall, I was very pleased with the coat I got - in the way it looked and felt. The sleeves were a bit long, so I had to spend a little more to get those altered, but I since another customer had posted a review with the same comment, I wasn't surprised by this and still feel I got good value for... Read more
- ResellerRatingsAug 21, 2019The checkout process is still a mystery. Read more
- ViewpointsAug 27, 2014From the bottom of my heart I honestly loathe JosBanks.com. You see all the hype on the television about buy 1 get 2 free or similar deals that seem too good to be true. Problem is, these offers are too good to be true. The price of one of these suits translates to you actually paying for 2 1/2 of... Read more


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|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
Dear Chlamy Community, This is to announce that JGIv3 Chlamy genome annotations have been mapped to the current AUGUSTUS gene models for the v4 Chlamy genome assembly (a.k.a. the AUGUSTUS "update 5/UTR5" gene models). For those who attended the Chlamy '08 meeting, you may recall mention of (an earlier set of) these gene models, which were generated in collaboration with Mario Stanke (the author of AUGUSTUS) and Chun Liang: http://augustus.gobics.de/predictions/chlamydomonas/ Although the recently release JGIv4.0 gene models incorporated the AUGUSTUS gene predictions as a source of input, the resulting models can differ significantly in the details and the two sets should be viewed as distinct if not complementary. The advantages of the AUGUSTUS model set include simultaneously-consistent alternative transcript and UTR predictions; a possible disadvantage (anecdotally) is that some of the current AUGUSTUS models may fuse two or more genes. Regardless, improving the AUGUSTUS Chlamy gene models remains an active and ongoing project. If you'd like to use the AUGUSTUS models, you now have some functional annotations to work with, courtesy of the community's efforts on v3 of the Chlamy genome. You may download an Excel file for these mappings here. A tab-delimited version of this file and other related files are available within the same directory. For more details about these results, please refer to the README page. These mapping results along with additional functional annotation data will be available from the AUGUSTUS Chlamy website within the next few days. Regular updates to these annotations will be posted over the next couple of weeks: for download at the freshboom.com site and for more user-friendly interactive use at the AUGUSTUS website. Importantly, Elizabeth Harris and I are working hard to make sure all the available genetic linkage markers/data/references are incorporated with these mapped annotations; when we're done, we will post them (along with any editorial corrections/additions). These mapped annotations will also be available soon in association with the AUGUSTUS models at the JGI Chlamy v4 genome browser (and possibly at the budding ChlamyBase.org website). Those of you who have been waiting awhile for these, thanks for your patience! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. In particular, if you notice any errors or have any corrections/additions to Your Favorite Gene(s), please kindly let me know; I will make sure it gets fixed and reflected in future updates, for the benefit of the Chlamy community. Sincerely, erik --- Erik F. Y. Hom Postdoctoral Fellow, Murray Lab MCB, Harvard University 52 Oxford St., NWLabs 458.40-8D Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Lab: +1-617-496-1384 | -1489 Fax: +1-617-496-1541